Surefire Ways to Manage Your Salon or Barber Shop like a Pro

If you own a nail or hair salon or are planning to open one in the near future, you will be well aware of how highly competitive this industry is. In fact, chances are that there might be one right across the street or down a few blocks. At the same time, however, this also means that you are in a highly profitable industry and can make it big time if you are smart enough to reel maximum customers into your shop.

So, how do you expand your customer base?

Follow these simple yet highly effective tips to manage a salon and barbershop that will have your place bustling with customers every day.

Use the Right Channels to Advertise Your Shop

Whether your shop is located near the town square or not, advertising your business is necessary. You may build a website for the purpose or market your services on social media and other online platforms, but if you don’t use geo-targeting, then you might as well build castles in the air. Geo-targeting means advertising to a certain group of people based on their location. You can use special tools, applications, and software packages to let locals know about the services that you are offering in a particular location.

It goes without saying that hardly anyone will drive over 10 miles to get a manicure, so promoting your brand in the immediate neighborhood is your best bet.

Provide Customer Service That Is Totally Spot-On

With a few consistent efforts, you can attract a lot of customers to your shop. But how do you ensure that they revisit as well? The answer to that lies in providing them with a memorable experience.

While your staff members might be complete pros at what they do, training them to serve the customers respectfully and in a friendly manner will go a long way. You will be surprised at how powerful warm greetings and a polite smile can be in generating positive customer feedback.

Management Software Eases Lives

If you schedule and record appointments for your clients manually, then you are harming no one but yourself. Appropriate business management software can ease lives for you as well as your clients due to the features that they provide. You may select one that only automates appointment scheduling or go for more elaborate ones that also offer inventory management, sales receipt generation, and customer tracking.

In the age of the internet there are so many tools you can use to not only provide a valuable service but also arm yourself with valuable contact information. If you use an online scheduling software, the customer can handle his own schedule based on the availability of his desires when he or she is able. This is terribly powerful when you’re running constantly and organize your days activity methodically. Since the customer will use his cell number or email address, you’ll be able to build a useful customer database for marketing and other important advisories. Let’s face it, most mom and pop operations fail to use modern technology to enhance their businesses or customers experience.

Consistent Hours of Operation

Running a salon successfully requires proper organization and time management which includes being consistent with the hours of operation. Many salons and barbers boast of providing service all around the clock, whereas customers will often arrive at the shop only to find that it’s closed for a lunch break, is currently under renovation, or merely closed early for no apparent reason.

If you don’t want to lose potential customers, then make sure you clearly mention your shop timings at the relevant platforms as well as post it boldly right outside the shop. Use open and closed signage properly and follow the timings that you post.

Since you’re taking all these extra steps to ensure success make sure you take a moment to record it along the way. In other words, it’s a lot easier to chart your path and adjust where and when necessary if you know where you’ve been and the turns you took to get there. So much of creating a successful business is related to making timely adjustments but you don’t want to have to start from scratch every time.

These tips to manage a salon and barber shop might seem simple to some but remember that while aiming for the big target most people miss out the little things that count a lot. Follow them closely and witness the magic yourself.

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